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State Department Notes on Grenada
U.S. Department of State Background Note
Most of Grenada's population is of African descent. A few East Indians and a small community of the descendants of early European settlers reside in Grenada. About 50% of Grenada's population is under the age of 30. English is the official language; only a few people still speak French patois. A more significant reminder of Grenada's historical link with France is the strength of the Roman Catholic Church, to which about 60% of Grenadians belong.
Before the arrival of Europeans, Carib Indians had driven the more peaceful Arawaks from the island. Columbus landed on Grenada in 1498 during his third voyage to the new world. He named the island "Concepcion." The origin of the name "Grenada" is obscure, but it is likely that Spanish sailors renamed the island for the city of Granada. By the beginning of the 18th century, the name "Grenada," or "la Grenade" in French, was in common use.
Partly because of the Caribs, Grenada remained un-colonized for more than 100 years after its discovery; early English efforts to settle the island were unsuccessful. In 1650, a French company founded by Cardinal Richelieu purchased Grenada from the English and established a small settlement. After several skirmishes with the Caribs, the French brought in reinforcements from Martinique and defeated the Caribs.
The island remained under French control until its capture by the British in 1762, during the Seven Years' War. The Treaty of Paris formally ceded Grenada to Great Britain in 1763. Although the French regained control in 1779, the Treaty of Versailles restored the island to Britain in 1783. Britain overcame a pro-French revolt in 1795, and Grenada remained British for the remainder of the colonial period.
During the 18th century, Grenada's economy underwent an important transition. Like much of the rest of the West Indies it was originally settled to cultivate sugar, which was grown on estates using slave labor. But natural disasters paved the way for the introduction of other crops. In 1782, Sir Joseph Banks, the botanical adviser to King George III, introduced nutmeg to Grenada. The island's soil was ideal for growing the spice, and because Grenada was a closer source of spices for Europe than the Dutch East Indies the island assumed a new importance to European traders.
The collapse of the sugar estates and the introduction of nutmeg and cocoa encouraged the development of smaller landholdings, and the island developed a land-owning yeoman farmer class. Slavery was outlawed in 1834. In 1833, Grenada became part of the British Windward Islands Administration. The governor of the Windward Islands administered the island for the rest of the colonial period. In 1958, the Windward Islands Administration was dissolved, and Grenada joined the Federation of the West Indies. After that federation collapsed in 1962, the British Government tried to form a small federation out of its remaining dependencies in the Eastern Caribbean.
Following the failure of this second effort, the British and the islands developed the concept of associated statehood. Under the Associated Statehood Act of 1967, Grenada was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs in March 1967. Full independence was granted on February 7, 1974.
After obtaining independence, Grenada adopted a modified Westminster parliamentary system based on the British model, with a governor general appointed by and representing the British monarch (head of state) and a prime minister who is both leader of the majority party and the head of government. Sir Eric Gairy was Grenada's first Prime Minister.
On March 13, 1979, the New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation Movement (New Jewel Movement--NJM), ousted Gairy in a coup and established a People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) headed by Maurice Bishop, who became Prime Minister. His Marxist-Leninist government established close ties with Cuba, the Soviet Union, and other communist bloc countries.
In October 1983, a power struggle within the government resulted in the arrest and execution of Bishop and several members of his cabinet and the killing of dozens of his supporters by elements of the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA).
A U.S.-Caribbean force landed on Grenada on October 25, 1983, in response to an appeal from the Governor General and to a request for assistance from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. U.S. citizens were evacuated, and order was restored.
An advisory council named by the Governor General administered the country until general elections were held in December 1984. The New National Party (NNP) led by Herbert Blaize won 14 out of 15 seats in free and fair elections and formed a democratic government. Grenada's constitution had been suspended in 1979 by the PRG, but it was restored after the 1984 elections.
The NNP continued in power until 1989 but with a reduced majority. Five NNP parliamentary members, including two cabinet ministers, left the party in 1986-87 and formed the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which became the official opposition.
In August 1989, Prime Minister Blaize broke with the NNP to form another new party, The National Party (TNP), from the ranks of the NNP. This split in the NNP resulted in the formation of a minority government until constitutionally scheduled elections in March 1990. Prime Minister Blaize died in December 1989 and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Ben Jones until the elections.
The NDC emerged from the 1990 elections as the strongest party, winning seven of the 15 available seats. Nicholas Brathwaite added two TNP members and one member of the Grenada United Labor Party (GULP) to create a 10-seat majority coalition. The Governor General appointed him to be Prime Minister.
In parliamentary elections on June 20, 1995, the NNP won eight seats and formed a government headed by Keith Mitchell. The NNP maintained and affirmed its hold on power when it took all 15 parliamentary seats in the January 1999 elections.
General elections were held in November 2003; the NNP won 8 of the 15 seats, holding on to power with a much-reduced majority. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by Tillman Thomas won 7 seats and is now the official opposition.
Grenada is governed under a parliamentary system based on the British model; it has a governor general, a prime minister and a cabinet, and a bicameral parliament with an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Senate.
Citizens enjoy a wide range of civil and political rights guaranteed by the constitution. Grenada's constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. Citizens exercise this right through periodic free and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
The political parties in Grenada are the New National Party (NNP), which remains moderate; the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is now made up of some members of the New Jewel Movement (NJM) and the original NDC; the People's Labor Movement (PLM), which is a combination of members of the original NDC and the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM); and the Grenada United Labor Party (GULP). The National Party (TNP) and MBPM no longer exist.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), launched in 2001 to investigate the period between the mid-1970s and the late 1980s, sent its report to the government in May 2006. The long-awaited (and two years overdue) report was only released to the public in mid-September 2006, when the government announced it would implement the TRC's recommendations. However, the government was vague on the details of how or when the recommendations would be implemented and called for additional public input. There has been no further progress.
In February 2007, the Privy Council in London handed down its verdict on the appeal of the group that was convicted of murdering Prime Minister Bishop and members of his cabinet in 1983. The "Group of 14" were originally condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison. The three triggermen, sentenced to 30 years in prison as they were following orders, were released in December 2006 after serving two-thirds of their original sentence, as per local law. The remainder of the group argued that the original trial was unjust and appealed to the Privy Council to overturn the verdict and sentence. The Privy Council decision, however, only vacated the sentence, on the grounds that the death sentence was inappropriate. It upheld the convictions of multiple homicides, stripping the group of its political prisoner status. The case was returned to the Grenada Supreme Court for resentencing. Although a date has been requested, the case has not yet made it onto the court's calendar.
The 800 members of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), which includes an 80-member paramilitary special services unit (SSU) and a 30-member coast guard, maintain security in Grenada. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard provide periodic training and material support for the SSU and the coast guard. The Departments of State and Treasury provide support to the Financial Investigative Unit (FIU).
Principal Government Officials
Head of State--Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General--Sir Daniel C. Williams, G.C.M.G., Q.C.
Prime Minister--Dr. Keith C. Mitchell
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Elvin Nimrod
Ambassador to the United States and OAS--Denis G. Antoine
Ambassador to the United Nations--Angus Friday
Grenada maintains an embassy in the United States at 1701 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 (tel: 202-265-2561).
The economy of Grenada, based primarily upon services (tourism and education) and agricultural production (nutmeg and cocoa), was brought to a near standstill by Hurricane Ivan on September 7, 2004. Thirty-seven people were killed by the hurricane, and approximately 8,000-10,000 left homeless. Hurricane Ivan damaged or destroyed 90% of the buildings on the island, including some tourist facilities. Overall damage totaled as much as 2.5 times annual GDP. Reconstruction has proceeded quickly, but much work remains. The United States has been the leading donor since the hurricane, with an emergency program of about $45 million aimed at repairing and rebuilding schools, health clinics, community centers, and housing; training several thousand Grenadians in construction and other fields; providing grants to private businesses to speed their recovery; and providing a variety of aid to help Grenada diversify its agriculture and tourism sectors.
Despite initial high unemployment in the tourist and other sectors, urban Grenadians have benefited post-hurricane from job opportunities in the surging construction sector. Agricultural workers have not fared as well. Hurricane Ivan destroyed or significantly damaged a large percentage of Grenada's tree crops, and Hurricane Emily further damaged the sector. Complete recovery will take years. However, many hotels, restaurants, and other businesses have reopened. In anticipation of Cricket World Cup matches held on the island in the spring of 2007, many Grenadians renewed their focus on the rebuilding process. Predictions are for an increase in tourism, although Grenada lags behind its neighbors in marketing the island overseas. St. George's University, a large American medical and veterinary school with over 2,000 students, is in full operation.
Grenada is a member of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) issues a common currency for all members of the ECCU. The ECCB also manages monetary policy, and regulates and supervises commercial banking activities in its member countries.
Grenada is also a member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM). Most goods can be imported into Grenada under open general license, but some goods require specific licenses. Goods that are produced in the Eastern Caribbean receive additional protection; in May 1991, the CARICOM common external tariff (CET) was implemented. The CET aims to facilitate economic growth through intra-regional trade by offering duty-free trade among CARICOM members and duties on goods imported from outside CARICOM.
The United States, China, Cuba, and Venezuela have embassies in Grenada. In 2006, the United Kingdom's High Commissioner's office in Barbados took over responsibility for Grenada, maintaining only a staff in Grenada. Grenada has been recognized by most members of the United Nations and maintains diplomatic missions in the United States, Canada, China, Cuba, Belgium, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
Grenada is a member of the Caribbean Development Bank, CARICOM, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Commonwealth of Nations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It joined the United Nations in 1974, and then the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Organization of American States (OAS) in 1975. Grenada also is a member of the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System (RSS).
The U.S. Government established an Embassy in Grenada in November 1983. The U.S. Ambassador to Grenada is resident in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Embassy in Grenada is staffed by a Chargé d'Affaires who reports to the Ambassador in Bridgetown.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) played a major role in Grenada's development. In addition to the $45 million emergency aid for reconstruction from Hurricane Ivan, USAID provided more than $120 million in economic assistance from 1984 to 1993. About 25 Peace Corps volunteers in Grenada teach special education, remedial reading, and vocational training and assist with HIV/AIDS work. Grenada receives counter-narcotics assistance from the United States and benefits from U.S. military exercise-related construction and humanitarian civic action projects.
Grenada and the United States cooperate closely in fighting narcotics smuggling and other forms of transnational crime. In 1995, the United States and Grenada signed a maritime law enforcement treaty. In 1996, they signed a mutual legal assistance treaty and an extradition treaty as well as an over-flight/order-to-land amendment to the maritime law enforcement treaty. The United States continues to provide training, equipment, and materiel, including three vehicles in 2006, to Grenadian security and defense forces. Some U.S. military training is provided as well.
Grenada continues to be a popular destination for Americans. Of the 98,548 stayover visitors in 2005, 25,181 were U.S. citizens. It is estimated that some 2,600 Americans reside in the country, plus the 2,000 U.S. medical students who study at the St. George's University School of Medicine. (Those students are not counted as residents for statistical purposes.)
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials (all officials except the Charge are located at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados)
Ambassador-- Mary M. OurismanDeputy Chief of Mission--Mary Ellen T. Gilroy
Charge d'Affaires--Karen Jo McIsaac
Political/Economic Counselor--Martina A. Strong (Acting)
Consul General--Clyde Howard Jr.
Defense Attaché--Lee Bauer (resident in Caracas)
Regional Labor Attaché--Martina Strong
Economic-Commercial Affairs--Anthony Eterno
Public Affairs Officer--Julie O'Reagan
Peace Corps Director--Kate Rafferty (resident in St. Lucia)
The U.S. Embassy in Grenada is located on the Lance-aux-Epines Main Road, St. George's, Grenada; tel: 1-(473)-444-1173/4/5/6/7; fax: 1-(473)-444-4820.
The mailing address is P.O. Box 54, St. George's, Grenada, West Indies.
Other Contact Information
U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Trade Information Center
14th and Constitution, NW
Washington, DC 20230
Tel: 1-800-USA-TRADE
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises Americans traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information Sheets, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings. Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include information on entry and exit requirements, currency regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Public Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens traveling or residing abroad to register via the State Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on security conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada or the regular toll line 1-202-501-4444 for callers outside the U.S. and Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled "Health Information for International Travel" (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.
Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and market information offered by the federal government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the export process, and more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international trade information from the Federal government. The site includes current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.Revised: Jun. 2007


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Instructional-Design-Live #27 Online Teaching: Susan Ko
Susan Ko, Executive Director of the Center of Teaching Excellence at University of Maryland University College, published the first edition of Teaching Online: A Practical Guide 10 years ago. The third edition, published this year, reflects a number of changes that have happened in the field over that last several years such as the: Web 2.0 revolution, growing acceptance of online education, need for special training and continuing support for faculty and students, team course development, growth of open educational resources, and increasing use of mobile devices.
With unassuming clarity, Susan addresses a number of key issues facing designers and faculty in higher (and K-12) education today.
Aug 20, 2010 10:01:49 AM - IDL 27: SUSAN KO--PRACTICAL ONLINE TEACHING
02:31 - Robert: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415997263/
03:31 - Jennifer: oooh! A kindle edition, too! http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Online-Practical-Guide-ebook/dp/B003AU7E8...
05:38 - Jennifer: What about synchronous teaching options? Is this changing the face of online learning in your experience?
16:31 - Jennifer: how have "perceptions" of oline learning changed (or not) over the years? perceptions of quality, satisfaction, faculty buy-in, etc?
24:05 - Jason: Neiffer: Sure
24:19 - Robert: yes
25:41 - Jennifer: @jason ... I think k-12 is going to be a HUGE driver in online learning ... esp. taking online learning from being for "alternative" adult learners to far more maintream
29:13 - Jennifer: @jason ... good point re: importance of taking an online course (or program) to "get it"
30:30 - Marlene: Yes, continuous improvement is an important aspect of online teaching.
30:42 - Jason Neiffer: Good question, Robert...
31:53 - Jennifer: Great! Thank you, Susan ... another fun virtual "brown bag" lunch for me :)
32:38 - Marlene: Thanks, Susan!
32:38 - Jason Neiffer: Thanks everyone! :)
- Log in to post comments

subset: commoncrawl


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U.S. Department of Commerce
Bureau of Industry and Security
Update 2012 Conference
Remarks of
Eric L. Hirschhorn
Under Secretary for Industry and Security
July 17, 2012
Thank you, Bernie. Good morning and welcome to BIS's twenty-fifth annual Update conference. Thanks to Toni Jackson, her staff, and you as well as the many other BIS and U.S. government colleagues who have contributed to this event.
I would like to introduce our BIS management team. Please stand when I call your name. Please hold your applause until I have read everyone's name. We have Assistant Secretaries David Mills and Kevin Wolf, Deputy Under Secretary Dan Hill, Chief of Staff Sharon Yanagi, Deputy Assistant Secretaries Matt Borman and Don Salo, Director of Administration Gay Shrum, Charles Kinney, our new Director of Congressional and Public Affairs, and Chief Information Officer Eddie Donnell.
Before proceeding with my remarks, I would like to thank Mike Froman, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, and Brian Nilsson of the National Security Staff for their important work facilitating export control reform. Additionally, excellent interagency cooperation and teamwork has played a major role in the progress we have made in advancing the reform effort. Our interagency colleagues deserve recognition for their hard work in facilitating reform while simultaneously performing their "day jobs."
This conference demonstrates the importance of the partnership between BIS and America's exporting community. Your responses to the rules proposed by Commerce and State have provided valuable assistance to export control reform. I implore you to remain engaged and assist us in moving reform forward.
First and foremost, an effective export control system is needed to help protect U.S. national security. This administration's fundamental reform of the Cold-War era export control system will strengthen national security by:
- Focusing limited resources on the threats that matter most;
- Facilitating military interoperability with our close friends and allies; and
- Strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base by reducing the current incentives for foreign manufacturers to "design out" U.S.-origin parts and components because they may be controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and hence, under the ITAR's "see through" rule, which effectively causes the entire foreign-made end product to become subject to U.S re-export controls regardless of the significance of the U.S.-origin content.
Reform also will yield the important collateral benefit of easing other unnecessary financial, regulatory, and "red tape" burdens on U.S. exporters. That, in turn, will promote manufacturing growth and create jobs.
I would like to review the progress we have made in establishing an export control system based on the three overarching principles I discussed in my 2010 Update speech—the three "E"s. These are Efficiency, Education, and Enforcement.
Our approach to protecting U.S. national security rests on two fundamental principles that are reflected in the final and proposed export control reform rules we have issued to date. First, rules should be transparent and predictable. Second, streamlined processes, combined with effective safeguards, are required to control sensitive items appropriately while facilitating exports of less sensitive items to destinations, end users, and end uses that do not pose significant national security, proliferation, or human rights concerns.
I. Transparency
Transparency and predictability have been key elements of the export control reform final and proposed rules we have issued. These are virtues not only for their own sake, but also because it is vital to our national and economic security that American companies be reliable and predictable suppliers of products. Transparency and predictably are also vital to compliance. If exporters can't understand the rules, then they can't comply with them. The Defense Department, assisted by the Departments of Commerce and State, has conducted a detailed analysis of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) in order to identify those defense articles that warrant the controls of the ITAR. Working from the results of this effort, the Departments of State and Commerce have prepared proposed revisions to and new control categories. Those articles that are now ITAR controlled but that were not identified as warranting control on the USML would become subject to the controls of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and its Commerce Control List (CCL). This would not be a decontrol of such items. Rather, we have proposed creating a "600 series" of on the CCL to controls items that would no longer be ITAR controlled after this review is completed. Because the EAR allows for country-based exceptions, this will allow the government to "right size" controls on less sensitive military items destined for allies and other multi-regime partners.
We have established within BIS a Munitions Control Division, staffed by technical and regulatory specialists who will process the licenses and classification determinations for these items. They will be ready to go as soon as the rules become final. Our goal is that the licensing transition will be seamless from the perspective of the exporter.
BIS has published 12 proposed rules, including the recently issued proposals on "specially designed" and transition issues. These are in addition to the joint Defense and State Department Section 1248 report to Congress on satellites, which also included draft proposed changes to Category XV of the ITAR and corresponding changes to the CCL to control satellites and related items that would no longer be ITAR-controlled.
The revised "specially designed" proposed rule, published in June, represents an effort to have a uniform definition of this term that neither over-controls nor under-controls the items that meet the regulatory criteria. We need and appreciate your comments. We seek a definition that will provide increased clarity, reliability, and predictability for exporters.
The proposed transition rule addresses the treatment of items that will move from the ITAR to the CCL. This rule proposes, among other things, establishing a General Order regarding continued State Department authorizations for the transition period, revising license exceptions in the EAR to make them consistent with ITAR exemptions, and extending the validity of future Commerce licenses from two years to four years, which is the case now for State Department licenses.
In December 2010, BIS sought comment on how the description of items controlled on the CCL could be made clearer. Soon we will publish a proposal to implement changes that we—and you, the public—have identified to clarify the CCL.
Before any final rule transferring items from the USML to the CCL is published, State is required by Section 38(f) of the Arms Export Control Act to notify its congressional oversight committees. It is my understanding that State expects to send the first Section 38(f) notifications to Congress in late summer or early fall. Meanwhile the agencies continue to work with key committee staffers and are doing all they can to answer their questions and provide as much information as possible.
The House recently passed an amendment as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would restore the President's authority to determine the appropriate export controls for commercial satellites. This change is reflected in bills introduced by Congressman Berman of California and Senator Bennet of Colorado. The Administration supports this goal. Included in the amendment, however, were some provisions that could delay or cripple the entire export control reform initiative for all items, not just satellites. As the legislation moves through the Congress, we are working to remove or ameliorate those provisions.
II. Streamlined Processes and Higher Fences
The second critical element of efficiency involves ensuring control over items requiring review while facilitating exports of less sensitive items to end users that do not pose a national security concern. The creation of License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) represented one step toward allowing the U.S. Government to focus on more significant items and on destinations of the greatest concern. STA has streamlined exports of many items on the CCL.
STA also will be available for exporting many items that move from the USML to the CCL. This license exception will streamline exports of many items to 36 close NATO and multilateral regime partners for ultimate end use by the governments of those countries. This will enhance U.S. security by increasing interoperability with close allies and strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base.
Another key benefit of export control reform will be reducing the incentives foreign companies have to "design out" U.S. content due to the ITAR's "see through" rule. Under this rule U.S. reexport control is imposed upon a foreign-made end item if it incorporates even the most minor part subject to the ITAR.
STA will provide exporters with greater flexibility and predictability, but there are no free lunches. Exporters using STA remain responsible for managing their compliance with that license exception's requirements to ensure the items are not reexported outside STA-eligible countries, or employed for other end uses within such countries, without prior U.S. government approval.
We have begun implementing an enhanced initiative to verify compliance with license exception STA. We review the data reported in AES to track STA shipments and identify users of STA. We require exporters and consignees to provide, upon request, copies of their export control documents relating to STA. We also are conducting export document reviews of STA users to verify compliance. As items transferred from the USML to the CCL become eligible for STA, we will expand such outreach, compliance, and review efforts to guard against and detect misuse.
At the same time, the export control reform initiative has not changed, and will not change, U.S. export control policies with respect to China and the other embargoed countries. For example, the government has no plans to alter its prohibitions on exporting Munitions List items (including "600 series" items) to China or dual-use items for military end use in China.
III. Operational Issues
The remaining element of regulatory efficiency involves the resolution of operational issues.
0Y521 Rule: In May, BIS established a new export control classification (ECCN) series 0Y521, to cover certain items not listed elsewhere on the CCL that warrant control but are not yet listed. As we move to more positive lists – i.e., lists without sweeping catch-all controls – it's vital that the government have the ability to control specific items, such as some types of emerging technologies, warranting control when they are identified. This was an industry recommendation at the beginning of export control reform.
USXports I.T. Platform: We anticipate that sometime this fall, Commerce will have initial operating capability on the Department of Defense's USXports I.T. platform. Use of this platform by all export control agencies will upgrade significantly the ability of licensing officers to review and make timely decisions on license-related issues.
Information technology is an important element of export control reform and this year we will conduct a panel on Information Technology and Export Controls. We also have set up an I.T. demonstration group in the Cardozo Room on the terrace level of Columbia Hall to answer your questions and demonstrate our new items.
Single Licensing Form and Harmonized Definitions: We have previewed with our industry-led technical advisory committees some additional harmonized definitions and will in time seek public comment on those. We also plan to seek comments on what elements should be included in a unified electronic export license submission form.
A core principle for ensuring the success of reform is an informed regulated community. This sold-out Update conference demonstrates the exporting community's strong commitment to compliance. BIS continues to expand our outreach and education effort and conducted more than 200 outreach events during FY 2011.
I especially want to recognize the unprecedented outreach efforts of Assistant Secretary Kevin Wolf. Kevin conducts weekly export control reform call-ins where he answers questions regarding proposed rules. Not only do these sessions attract large audiences, sometimes in excess of 150 listeners, but the questions asked increase our understanding of industry concerns and where we may have missed something. Kevin is conducting two two-hour open sessions Thursday to answer questions about the proposed rules. Then will be your chance to play "Stump the Assistant Secretary."
The Office of Exporter Services is developing a targeted and multi-faceted outreach program to support the USML-to-CCL process and to get exporters up to speed once these changes are published in final form. We have deployed on the BIS website an educational interactive tool to assist companies in determining whether they are eligible for and compliant with STA.
The Office of Exporter Services and the Office of Technology Evaluation continue to work with the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to improve AES to alert filers if they make errors that are inconsistent with our regulations.
BIS does not confine its outreach events to U.S. exporters. During FY 2011, BIS participated in 30 international outreach events sponsored by the Department of State's Export Control and Border Security program. These dialogues assist other nations in establishing effective export control systems to address—collectively—the global threats of proliferation and terrorism.
BIS will continue using its unique administrative enforcement authorities—the Entity List, the Denied Persons List, and the issuance of Temporary Denial Orders—to focus on problem parties and to exclude foreign bad actors from the legitimate commercial marketplace.
BIS is erecting higher fences to prevent the unauthorized reexport of items outside the STA zone. "600 series" items that will be eligible for export to allied countries under License Exception STA will be subject to a multi-layered compliance strategy. I will mention briefly the key elements of this collaborative approach. Assistant Secretary David Mills will discuss these issues more fully in his remarks tomorrow morning.
- A one-time advance review will be required for would-be STA consignees that have not been previously approved under a Commerce or State license.
- The Office of Exporter Services and The Office of Technology Evaluation are conducting enhanced outreach and review for current users of STA.
- The Office of Export Enforcement and the Office of Export Analysis will conduct targeted end-use checks overseas, which they will coordinate with State's Blue Lantern program for defense articles, to increase the number of "600 series" items subject to on-site review.
- The Administration has established an Information Triage Unit (ITU) in our Office of Enforcement Analysis. This unit compiles, coordinates, enriches, and reports all-source information about foreign parties to controlled export transactions. The enhanced role for the Intelligence Community through their direct involvement in the ITU will assist all the license review agencies in making better decisions.
Export control reform is far from complete but the end of the massive list review exercise is in sight. So too are the agencies' move to the Defense Department's USXPORTS licensing system and a number of other aspects of export control reform.
Let me take a few moments, then, to mention some potential future projects to make the system more rational and more user friendly. I should stress that not all of these projects have yet been reviewed by our sister agencies.
- We need to finish the effort to systematically review the CCL.
- We need to complete the effort to harmonize the terms in the EAR, the ITAR, and other relevant export control regulations.
- The EAR must be made easier to use.
- Our encryption rules, which were streamlined somewhat in 2010, need to be more clear and concise in the 2nd rule we plan.
- The intra-company transfer proposal should be revisited.
- The deemed export rule often has been criticized and merits discussion.
- We would like to expedite the interagency review of license applications and perhaps do more to harmonize or standardize license conditions.
- The levels of at least some License Exception LVS thresholds might be adjusted to reflect inflation and market realities.
- Our rules governing recordkeeping antedate today's widespread reliance on electronic databases, and accordingly should be updated.
- The General Prohibitions need to be revised.
- We need to work with the international regimes to help them revise their procedures so that we can get more proposed changes through their systems.
- Finally, we may review—if only for clarification's sake—the rules relating to cloud computing.
Should the President be reelected, we hope to consider these items as second-term initiatives.
Over the past three years the Obama Administration has sought, through export control reform, to achieve greater regulatory efficiency and rationality, focus controls on the most significant items and destinations, increase education to sensitize exporters to their compliance responsibilities, and strengthen enforcement. Moving forward, BIS will continue to seek public involvement through outreach conferences, proposed regulations, and our technical advisory committees.
As I noted at the outset of my remarks, our open dialogue with you will help ensure that we fulfill the "three E's"—Efficiency, Education, and Enforcement. BIS and its sister agencies welcome your comments.
Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, will now discuss how State's reform of defense trade controls will enhance defense trade and economic prosperity. Thereafter, Kevin Wolf will discuss the "specially designed" proposal, how Commerce will control items that move from State and become part of the "600 series," and other aspects of BIS's daily work. Tomorrow morning, David Mills, BIS' Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, will address export control enforcement issues, including how we will enforce controls on the items that move from State to Commerce.
I hope you find our Update program useful and I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Thank you.


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A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles. The property of reducing friction is known as lubricity.
A good lubricant possesses the following characteristics:
- High boiling point.
- Low freezing point.
- High viscosity index.
- Thermal stability.
- Corrosion prevention.
- High resistance to oxidation.
One of the single largest applications for lubricants, in the form of motor oil, is protecting the internal combustion engines in motor vehicles and powered equipment.
Typically lubricants contain 90% base oil (most often petroleum fractions, called mineral oils) and less than 10% additives. Vegetable oils or synthetic liquids such as hydrogenated polyolefins, esters, silicones, fluorocarbons and many others are sometimes used as base oils. Additives deliver reduced friction and wear, increased viscosity, improved viscosity index, resistance to corrosion and oxidation, aging or contamination, etc.
Lubricants such as 2-cycle oil are added to fuels like gasoline which has low lubricity. Sulfur impurities in fuels also provide some lubrication properties, which has to be taken in account when switching to a low-sulfur diesel; biodiesel is a popular diesel fuel additive providing additional lubricity.
Non-liquid lubricants include grease, powders (dry graphite, PTFE, Molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide, etc.), PTFE tape used in plumbing, air cushion and others. Dry lubricants such as graphite, molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide also offer lubrication at temperatures (up to 350 °C) higher than liquid and oil-based lubricants are able to operate. Limited interest has been shown in low friction properties of compacted oxide glaze layers formed at several hundred degrees Celsius in metallic sliding systems, however, practical use is still many years away due to their physically unstable nature.
Another approach to reducing friction and wear is to use bearings such as ball bearings, roller bearings or air bearings, which in turn require internal lubrication themselves, or to use sound, in the case of acoustic lubrication.
In addition to industrial applications, lubricants are used for many other purposes. Other uses include cooking (oils and fats in use in frying pans, in baking to prevent food sticking), bio-medical applications on humans (e.g. lubricants for artificial joints), ultrasound examination, internal examinations for males and females, and the use of personal lubricant for sexual purposes.
Read more about Lubricant: Purpose, Types of Lubricants, Additives, Application By Fluid Types, Marketing, Disposal and Environmental, Societies and Industry Bodies, Major Publications


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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 Sunday night for New York's fourth Super Bowl title.
It was a rematch of the 2008 NFL championship, when Manning led New York past New England to ruin the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.
This was the first Super Bowl with two starting quarterbacks who previously won the big game's MVP award -- and they took turns being brilliant. Manning became the first QB to open a Super Bowl with nine consecutive completions. Later, Brady put together a run of 16 completions in a row, breaking another Super Bowl mark.
But in the end, it was Manning who directed the nine-play, 88-yard drive that put New York ahead.


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By Bill Van Auken
Amid an escalating drumbeat about a supposed threat that Syria's government is preparing to use chemical weapons against its own people, Washington has deployed a naval armada off the country's coast.
The USS Eisenhower carrier strike group was sent through the Suez Canal from its deployment in the Persian Gulf earlier this week and has reportedly arrived in the Mediterranean near Syrian shores. The deployment joins that of an amphibious battle group already present in the eastern Mediterranean, consisting of the USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall, which together carry a contingent of 2,500 US Marines.
Between the two naval forces, Washington now has 17 warships, 70 fighter-bombers and 10,000 military personnel within close striking distance of Syria. This is in addition to the Air Force's 39th Air Base Wing stationed at the Incirlik base in Turkey together with tens of thousands of US ground troops deployed in Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Citing US military sources, the Times of London reported Wednesday that Washington is ready to launch a military attack on Syria "within days."
"It won't require major movement to make action happen," an unnamed US official told the British newspaper. "The muscle is already there to be flexed."
Pentagon sources have suggested that an intervention carried out on the pretext of securing Syria's chemical weapons would require some 75,000 troops.
In a further threat of direct US-NATO intervention, NATO governments are moving ahead to implement Tuesday's decision of the NATO foreign ministers conference to deploy Patriot missile batteries on Turkey's border with Syria. Germany's defense and foreign ministers announced a decision to deploy some 400 German troops on the border. Similar detachments will also be sent by the US and the Netherlands.
While Turkey claimed it needed the missiles to defend itself from a supposed threat that Syria would fire missiles carrying chemical weapons towards its border, the Patriot batteries could also be used to impose a de facto "no-fly zone" over northern Syria, allowing the US-backed "rebels" to consolidate control over territory and creating the conditions for the installation of a Western-backed government on Syrian soil.
US officials have reiterated threats made by President Barack Obama and others in the administration about the government of President Bashar al-Assad crossing a "red line" and facing military action if it uses chemical weapons.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Thursday described the US administration as "very concerned that as the opposition advances, in particular on Damascus, that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons."
Panetta referred to unspecified intelligence as the cause of these supposed concerns. Media outlets like the New York Times, CNN and NBC News have trumpeted this "intelligence," citing unnamed US officials as the sources for vague and often contradictory accounts of developments that have allegedly pointed toward a potential use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Maqdad, charged Thursday that the allegation made by the US and other NATO countries about Syria's chemical weapons were designed to create a "pretext for any subsequent interventions."
"Syria stresses again, for the tenth, the hundredth time, that if we had such weapons, they would not be used against its people," said Maqdad in an interview with Lebanon's Al Manar television.
Speaking at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Washington and its allies of manufacturing the alleged chemical weapons threat.
"As soon as we get these rumors [about chemical weapons] we engage in constructive demarche; when we get confirmation that nothing of that type is happening we share this information with our American colleagues," Lavrov told the media.
There are no grounds to grant any credibility to the claims made by Washington and its media servants in presenting a supposedly imminent threat of a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government as a trigger for war.
To the extent that there is any genuine content to these claims, it was expressed on Wednesday by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who declared that Washington was concerned "that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria."
The statement raised for the first time the prospect that the real threat in Syria is that the so-called rebels that the US and its allies are backing could overrun Syrian military facilities and capture chemical weapons.
Citing unnamed US officials, CNN reported on Wednesday that the US State Department is preparing to add Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian Islamist militia that is playing the leading role in the military campaign against the Assad government, to its list of "Foreign Terrorist Organizations."
According to recent reports, the Al Qaeda-connected al-Nusra militia has fielded as many as 10,000 fighters, many of them foreign Islamists who have been funneled into Syria. The group is said to be the best-armed element waging the war for regime change and is credited with recently overrunning two Syrian military bases.
Much of the weaponry going to the group has reportedly been sent in by the US-backed monarchy in Qatar. The CIA set up a command-and-control headquarters in southern Turkey earlier this year to coordinate the distribution of these arms and other aid going to the "rebels."
The designation of the al-Nusra militia as a terrorist organization would no doubt be meant to publicly distance Washington from the Al Qaeda elements upon which it has relied to wage the sectarian civil war to oust Assad. It would amount to a damning self-indictment, however, with the US government effectively making a formal admission that it has been supporting a terrorist war in Syria, replete with suicide bombings and sectarian massacres.
One reason for the pending terrorist designation is to pave the way for the US and its allies to intervene more directly in arming the "rebels," while claiming to distinguish between "secular-democratic" elements—found largely in luxury hotels in Doha—and Islamist militias, which are bearing the brunt of the US-backed war.
Such a move is likely in conjunction with a "Friends of Syria" meeting to be held in Marrakech, Morocco next week in which Washington may join with its NATO allies in recognizing a new "rebel" front—the National Coalition for the Opposition Forces—which was cobbled together under the direction of the US State Department.
In a related development, the New York Times published a front-page article Thursday that cited unnamed US officials explaining that in last year's war for regime change in Libya, "the Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar" that resulted in "turning some of these weapons over to Islamic militants." The newspaper said that evidence had yet to emerge that these weapons were used in last September's assault on the US consulate and a secret CIA facility in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.
There is little new in the article, which stresses that the Libyan experience "has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria, where weapons are flowing in from Qatar and other countries."
No doubt underlying these reports and maneuvers are bitter divisions within the US military-intelligence apparatus over the tactics being pursued in the wars for regime change, first in Libya and now in Syria. It would be surprising if elements within the American military did not have serious reservations about a policy founded on the US arming and supporting of forces tied to Al Qaeda.
However, an examination of the trajectory of US policy in the Middle East points to a definite relationship between Washington's attempts to assert its hegemony by military means and Al Qaeda that is sharply at odds with the official narrative of the "war on terrorism."
Over the past decade, every regime targeted by US imperialism for military overthrow in the Middle East, from Iraq to Libya to Syria, has been hostile to Al Qaeda and the Islamist agenda. In each of these countries, Islamist and Al Qaeda-linked forces had no real power until the US intervened. The principal target for US militarism, Iran, is a nation whose population is composed predominantly of Shiite Muslims, who have been targeted for attack by Al Qaeda elements in Iraq and elsewhere.
The motivation for military action against these countries has not been to further a "war on terror," much less to promote democracy or humanitarianism, but rather to assert US hegemony over an oil-rich and strategically vital region of the world.
To the extent that there is a genuine issue regarding chemical weapons in Syria, it is because the Obama administration has backed a "rebel" force that is dominated by Al Qaeda-linked militias into whose hands these weapons may fall, posing the threat that they may be used in terrorist attacks elsewhere.


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1) "The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." – Muhammad Ali
2) "Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself — and be lenient to everybody else." –Henry Ward Beecher
3) "Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." – Winston Churchill
4) "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." – Calvin Coolidge
5) "The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open." – Chuck Palahniuk
6) "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." – Thomas Edison
7) "What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do." – Tim Ferriss
8) "The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking." – Mia Hamm
9) "There is one thing that 99 percent of 'failures' and 'successful' folks have in common – they all hate doing the same things. The difference is successful people do them anyway." – Darren Hardy
10) "7 months straight. No stopping, no maintenance weeks, no cheat meals. Why? Because if someone beat me, I didn't want to look back at any cheat meals and ask 'what if'. I did what it took every single day, and THAT is why I looked the way I did. You either want it or you don't. Just so you know, there wasn't a day that went by in the last 8-10 weeks of that prep where I didn't want just ONE extra yogurt, or 5 less intervals of cardio. But, I was not going to be outworked! I was NOT going to be denied! And you know what? It was all worth it." – Tommy Jeffers
11) "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." –Michael Jordan
12) "Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent." – Marilyn Vos Savant
13) "Winning is not a sometime thing: it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do the right thing once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." – Vince Lombardi
14) "If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life." – Abraham Maslow
15) "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." – Friedrich Nietzsche
16) "A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week." – George S. Patton
17) "I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse." – Florence Nightingale
18) "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." – Frederick Douglass
19) "When you're playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how much you'll fight for the winner's circle. If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a fresh pack, one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor." – Pat Riley
20) "To remind yourself of the power of persistence, consider the metaphor of the stone cutter. How does he break open a giant boulder? He whacks it as hard as he can. The first hit doesn't leaven even a scratch, but he strikes hundreds, maybe even thousands of times. He persists even when his actions seem to be futile. But he knows that just because you don't see immediate results, it doesn't mean you're not making progress. So he keeps striking the rock. At some point it doesn't just chip, but literally splits in two. Did the final blow break the boulder open? Of course not. It was the constant pressure being applied to the challenge at hand." – Anthony Robbins
21) "There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." – Bruce Lee
22) "Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better." – Jim Rohn
23) "It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the Arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but he who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat." – Teddy Roosevelt
24) "Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it." – Margaret Thatcher
25) "Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die." – Brian Vaszily


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Staten Island, NY (December 13, 2012) – DiMarzio, Inc. welcomes Tosin Abasi, trail-blazing pioneer of modern heavy music and lead guitarist of progressive instrumental band Animals as Leaders to
Staten Island, NY (December 13, 2012) – DiMarzio, Inc. welcomes Tosin Abasi, trail-blazing pioneer of modern heavy music and lead guitarist of progressive instrumental band Animals as Leaders to its roster of endorsers. DiMarzio announced it will release three new Ionizer 8 pickups developed for Abasi's new signature 8-string Ibanez guitar in January of 2013. DiMarzio will also make the Ionizer 8 pickups available for retail sale.
The Ionizer 8 Neck Model (DP809) is warm and open like a vintage humbucker, solid and tight like a modern metal pickup, and performs like a classic single-coil in split mode. It's unusual for a player to request a humbucker with the single-coil sound as important as the series humbucking sound, but Abasi was clear on this point. The split mode has lower resistance than a vintage Strat 6-string pickup in order to let the 7th and 8th strings stay clean, but all the other specs nail the classic Strat sound.
DiMarzio specifically created the Ionizer 8 Middle Model (DP810) single-coil to work with the Ionizer 8 Neck and Bridge Models. It's clean, bright, and well-balanced. Although its construction bears little resemblance to a vintage 6-string single-coil, it performs similarly. Treble response is bright without being thin, and bass response is clean and solid.
When Abasi described what he wanted for the Ionizer 8 (DP811) humbucking Bridge Model, he said it is all about the mids. 8-string guitars have extended low-end response, and the mids need to power the bridge position so the sound doesn't wash out. It also needs to have enough output to overdrive an amp without making the sound muddy, and enough headroom to clean up when the volume is rolled down.
The long scale length of an 8-string guitar can make the sound of the unwound strings brittle, but the Ionizer 8 Bridge Model has a low resonant peak that warms them up, and the high E doesn't sound thin, even at the upper frets.
The 4-conductor wired humbuckers allow multiple coil connections, enabling a wealth of diverse sounds within the Ionizer 8 three-pickup combination.
DiMarzio's new Ionizer 8 Neck, Middle, and Bridge Model pickups are made in the U.S.A. and will be available from DiMarzio dealers in January of 2013. Suggested List Price for the Ionizer 8 Neck and Bridge Models is $139 each, and the Ionizer 8 Middle is $79. DiMarzio will show the pickups at the January 2013 NAMM Expo in Anaheim.
For more information:


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I've mentioned a couple of times, I think, that for some years when I was a teenager, I thought Spartacus' name was Sparatacus, thanks to this movie. This being a rather egregious mistake that continued far longer than it should have done, I thought perhaps it was worth a blog post to itself (also, Clueless is awesome).
For those unfamiliar with the film, Clueless is a mid-ninties teen flick based loosely on Jane Austen's Emma. Me being a teen in the mid-nineties, you can imagine how much I love this movie, though there's more to Clueless than just teen fun. Taking it's central plot from Austen, I actually prefer this movie to the original novel - I find Austen's Emma too overbearing and irritating, whereas Alicia Silverstone somehow manages to make Cher a sympathetic and endearing character. Even more importantly, Cher's initial objection to her friend Thai's crush is not to do with money, but rather the fact that he's high all day every day, which comes across as a lot more reasonable (and he's cleaned up by the end of the film). The film is also hilarious ('My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose'; 'There goes your social life').
This is a tightly structured film and Cher's mistake concerning the title of Spartacus is not just there for a cheap laugh. Cher is pursuing the new guy at school, Christian, but is unfortuantely completely oblivious to certain facts that mean this will never happen. Christian's declaration that he has a 'thing' for Tony Curtis doesn't clue her in, and nor does his choice of movies for a videofest - Some Like It Hot (about half of which Curtis spends in drag) and Spartacus. We join them during the early part of Spartacus, watching the scene in which Laurence Olivier's Crassus interrogates Curtis' Antoninus, whom he has recently purchased.
Crassus and Antoninus were the participants in another scene that takes place shortly after this one, which was cut from the film's original release but restored in 1991. The scene features Crassus trying to seduce Antoninus while discussing how sexuality is a matter of taste rather than morality via some appropriately sexy metaphors involving shellfish. Just as this scene is coming up, Cher tries to seduce Christian by playing footsie, but he brushes her off saying he wants to watch 'this part - this is good'. To be fair, as a 13-year-old watching the movie, I probably wouldn't have worked out the problem for myself if my best friend hadn't pointed it out to me, but poor Cher really is being very clueless here (especially given Christian's fondness for designer shoes). Her mistake with the name is really a symbol of her total lack of comprehension of the situation in which she's found herself, while the Roman-set film is representative of sexuality, and of Christian's sexuality in particular, which is particularly appropriate given ancient Rome's reputation for orgies and pornography.
It's also worth noting that much of Cher's determination to completely 'make-over' Thai in every respect from clothes to hair to accent to leisure activities has a very Pygmalion-like feel to it. Cher does not fall for Thai and the dialogue compares her efforts to Dr Frankenstein rather than either Pygmalion or his well-known modern counterpart, Professor Higgins, but her obsession with completely re-modelling the girl echoes the Pygmalion story more than the horror - something that's unlikely to be entirely conincidental in a film so full of classical allusions of the non-Greco-Roman variety (including Cher's observation that a book she read noted that 'it is a far, far better thing doing things for other people' and her pretty good knowledge of Hamlet, gained via the Mel Gibson-starring movie version). The clip from Spartacus that we see even refers to Curtis' character teaching children 'the classics'.
Being as clueless a teen as Cher, if not more so, this represented my entire impression of ancient Rome in popular culture for some years, until UK Gold started to repeat I, Claudius! I know better now, but I will forever love this movie for inducing a lifelong fondess for Paul Rudd, introducing the world to a very young (braces-wearing) Turk from Scrubs and for reminding me of a time when taking photos to help yourself choose a dress or phoning someone in the same building on a mobile seemed like such ridiculous things to do that only the super-rich would even contemplate anything of the sort.


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West Virginia Online High Schools
The following online high schools have programs available in West Virginia. Some are tuition free public online high schools offered to high school aged residents of West Virginia. Others are private online high schools offering classes and the opportunity to earn an online high school diploma to persons from a variety of ages and without regard to residing in the state of West Virginia.
West Virginia Online High Schools:
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1. Remember Paris?
The World Cup summer is going to hurt like hell without Ireland in South Africa. The manner of the defeat in Paris and the cheek of Thierry Henry's handball will be debated forever, but the reality is that Ireland had the chances to win the game long before extra-time, and had they played throughout the group as they did in France then they'd have qualified automatically.
2. Darren Sutherland's Tragic Death
People called the World Cup defeat to France a tragedy, but the real tragedy in Irish sport this year was the decision by world title contender Darren Sutherland to take his own life just over a year after he won the heart of the nation with one of three boxing medals at the Beijing Olympics.
3. Ireland's Grand Slam
Sport allows us to overcome the hurt of recession and the failure of our political leaders to maintain a just society, and never was the power of sport to thrill more evident than in March when Declan Kidney and Brian O'Driscoll led Ireland to a quite sensational Grand Slam win on a Cardiff afternoon never to be forgotten.
4. Kilkenny's Four in a Row
Brian Cody is God as far as Kilkenny folk are concerned, and it is easy to understand why after this most understated of men guided the Cats to a quite incredible fourth straight All-Ireland hurling title in September. Don't be surprised if he makes it five in a row in 2010.
5. Paul Galvin's Salvation
A year ago he was the biggest villain on Planet GAA after slapping that referee's notebook out of his hand, but every man deserves a second chance and the rejuvenated Galvin was the footballer of the season as Kerry came back from the dead to win Sam Maguire again.
6. Bernard Dunne's World Title Fights
He won one and he lost one, but Bernard Dunne reminded us all that he has the heart of a true champion as he came back from some serious knockdowns to beat Cordoba in March, but could do nothing against the power of Kraetingdaenggym in September.
7. Leinster's Heineken Cup Campaign
They won the European title with a quite deserved win over the Leicester Tigers in May, but for many Leinster fans the highlight of their year was the Croke Park annihilation of their bitterest rivals Munster in a never to be forgotten semifinal.
8. Roy Keane's Rants
He started the year as Sunderland manager in the Premier League and ended it in charge of Ipswich Town in the Championship, and in between had some wonderful rants at his old mates in the FAI when much of what he said was true and accurate!
9. Sea the Stars
The Horse of the Year is now out to stud and jockey Mick Kinane has retired on a high, but what a year for this supreme animal and trainer John Oxx as they won six Grade A races on the flat, including a brilliant Arc-Derby-Guineas treble.
10. John O'Shea's Premier League Medal
Manchester United's current woes haven't been helped by the injury O'Shea picked up in Paris at the end of what was his most consistent and impressive season yet with the Premier League champions.


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2012 Coda First Drive
Cracking the Coda: Deciphering the Differences in Driving a New Electric Vehicle
As modern electric vehicles begin to proliferate, there appear to be two separate camps when it comes to exterior style. There's the low-key, blend-in-with-the-pack crowd, and then there are the mad scientist conveyance types who want an EV that screams "Alternative propulsion!"
The new Coda all-electric sedan does no such screaming. Named after the musical term for a concluding passage or movement, it's just another unassuming four-door sedan on the outside -- and that's entirely intentional. Mainstream appeal is central to company's overall strategy. The goal is make electric vehicles that look, feel, and perform like a conventional, internal-combustion car. We spoke with a Coda dealer in San Jose who said one customer was drawn to the car precisely because it didn't shout its EV-ness. That's music to Coda's ears.
Styling aside, out on the open road the Coda's handling and acceleration proved to be a pleasant surprise. Benefitting from maximum torque instantly on demand, it scampered into freeway traffic with aplomb, and kept right up with the gas-powered hordes. Wheeling around tight-radius off-ramps was a low-effort affair, with no wandering or leaning to the outer perimeter.
The low mounting of the lithium-iron-phosphate batteries in the chassis provides some mechanical advantage, as it minimizes body roll by the sheer force of a lower center of gravity. And the batteries are secured in a backbone/platform-style chassis with a modified Mitsubishi independent suspension for a quiet, smooth ride when rolling over seamed and grooved concrete highways. The location of the batteries doesn't intrude on passenger or cargo space, either.
Even so, we won't go so far as to agree with one Coda rep, who gushed, "It's just as good as a BMW!" A 40-year-old BMW, maybe. PR puffery aside, the Coda proved it can hold its own around town and on moderate freeway commutes, although it is speed-limited to 85 mph.
But how about on longer drives? We didn't have the opportunity to make a high-speed run across California's Mojave Desert, so we'll have to rely on company claims for now. Coda claims a maximum run of 125 to 150 miles on a full charge depending on the battery pack, either 31 kW or 36 kW. (The EPA rates it at 73 combined mpge). The company notes that this is about five times what the average U.S. commuter travels daily. But the fine print in the footnote has the usual qualifier about how your actual range will vary depending on driving style, speed, conditions, cargo, etc.
We first spotted a Coda at an eco-festival in Sacramento, where it really stood out (in a good way) from the crowd of oddball electric vehicle designs on display. The Coda dealer there claimed he had driven up from San Jose the day before on a single charge, about 120 miles or so.
The other indication of the car's capabilities involved reports from a Coda customer, Randal Abraham, who's a test pilot for United Airlines and therefore a careful observer by profession. Depending on how aggressively he drives, Abraham said his car's range is roughly one mile per one percent of charge. (The battery meter doesn't show any drain for the first several miles, and there's a built-in reserve with a "get-home mode. ") He also claims the batteries get "seasoned" after breaking in, and provide slightly better performance over time. He's driven his Coda roughly 3000 miles thus far, and finds he can cruise roundtrip from his home in Redwood City, California, to just about any destination in the San Francisco Bay area.
He takes advantage of free charging stations in the Bay Area to get more juice whenever he has to stop for an hour or so. The longest he's driven without a charge is 110 miles, and he's reported no significant loss of performance over hill and dale. Allowing for these limitations of range and availability of charging stations, he's pretty happy with his Coda. "Me and my wife are fighting over who gets to drive the electric car over our Prius," Abraham says. "It's not a sports car, but it's very roomy, and access to the commuter lane is a plus, too."
The next obvious question is once you've drawn down the batteries to near-empty, how quickly can you replenish them? The company says a full charge at 220 volts takes six hours of "sleep," to use Coda's terminology, and charging during a two-hour "movie" (another clever expression), would give the batteries enough juice for 50 miles or so. The battery pack is covered by a 10-year/100K warranty.
As we've found with other alternative-fuel vehicles, whether these sorts of performance numbers are viewed as parameters instead of constrictive limitations obviously depends on a driver's individual circumstances. If you do a lot of short hops around town in traffic, and have ready access to charging stations and HOV lanes, then the Coda's range is entirely suitable. For long-haulers who regularly tackle steep, mountain grades in remote areas, best to take the Prius instead.
Style-wise, at first glance the Coda's round front end looks about as edgy as a jelly bean. The rear quarters of the car are a bit more interesting, with some surface detailing and contours. Don't expect to see styling elements of high-zoot sport sedans (BMW or otherwise). Instead, the Coda is as plain as generic vanilla. To borrow Jerry Seinfeld's quip, "Not that there's anything wrong with that..." After all, vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor.
The Coda's cabin is comfy and has a classy, upscale feel. There are no bizarre bells and whistles or Spartan seats as stiff as a church pew. Instead, the atmosphere is completely predictable, as it should be, with the typical creature comforts and safety equipment. The only notable exception: the large, washing-machine-look dial in the center console, instead of the typical PRNDL shifter, for engaging the electric drive system. The dash looks familiar, but instead of a "check engine" light, the icons are specific to electric drivetrains. Like the one that prevents you from driving away with the cord still tethered to the charge station.
In addition to the dealership in San Jose, we also checked out the Coda at a boutique display at a tony mall in Century City, just west of Rodeo Drive. Free test drives are readily available, and there's a charging station in the parking garage. Anybody who hangs out at Apple stores would feel right at home at this Coda storefront. The test drive is a basically a quick spin around the block, just a few miles in all, but it's enough to get a feel for around-town performance.
Getting down to brass tacks, does the Coda make financial sense? Again, the answer depends on who's asking. At $38,145 a pop including destination, they don't come cheap. Given the extra cash you'll pay for an electric drivetrain over a conventional gasoline burner, you could purchase a substantial amount of fuel.
On the other hand, the Coda enjoys a $7500 federal tax credit, and California residents receive an additional $2500 incentive. Keep in mind, too, that service and maintenance expenses on an electric powertrain are significantly less than those of an internal combustion engine. And as mentioned, it can run in the HOV lane with or without passengers. That aspect alone can be worth a lot to urban commuters in time saved and reduced aggravation. Of course, that leaves more hours for topping off the batteries once you get to the next charging station.
VEHICLE LAYOUT | Front-motor, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan |
MOTOR | 134 hp/221 lb-ft permanent magnet electric motor |
TRANSMISSION | 1-speed |
0-60 MPH | 9.5seconds (MT est) |
CURB WEIGHT | 3700 lbs (mfr) |
WHEELBASE | 102.3 inches |
LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT | 176.4 x 67.2 x 58.0 inches |
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON | 77/68 mpge |
ENERGY CON., CITY/HWY | 44/50 kw-hrs/100 miles |
ON SALE IN U.S. | Currently (Calif. Only) |
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As we all know, the 3DS has been getting some Game Gear titles lately on its Virtual Console storefront. But if a recent ESRB rating is to be believed, we have another incredibly rare game on the way — Mega Man. Of course, if the literal listing is correct, this is not the fantastic Mega Drive title The Wily Wars — the only other major Mega Man game on a Sega related system.
This is actually a completely different, relatively unknown game that was developed by a company called Freestyle, and is an amalgamation of Mega Man 4 and 5. There are no continues to speak of, and the level design as a whole is completely out of whack. Unless you're a die-hard (or curious) fan, you probably should avoid this one like the plague, as it feels like a knock-off more than a genuine entry.
ESRB Update [GoNintendo]


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COLUMBUS — Growers who want to get their corn crop out to a good start this year should make sure they get it planted during the optimal corn-planting time, which in some parts of Ohio typically starts as early this week.
Getting corn planted in southern Ohio between April 10 and May 10 and in northern Ohio between April 15 and May 10 — the optimal planting times for corn in Ohio — is just one of several key measures growers can take to better ensure they avoid irreversible mistakes that could result in lower yield potential, said Peter Thomison, an OSU Extension agronomist.
Lose a bushel/day
"We encourage planting at the recommended times because this is historically when you get the best yields," Thomison said. "Planting later than these times historically has resulted in yield loss, in some cases a 30-bushel-per-acre reduction in yield.
"Growers historically could see a loss of a bushel to a bushel and a half in yield loss for each late planted day."
At mercy of weather
But some growers might be hesitant to plant early this year based on experiences many had with planting delays and drought the past two years, he said.
For example, wet weather conditions caused planting delays for many growers in 2011, but many were still able to produce good and, in some cases, better crops.
For some growers who planted early in 2012, crops were at critical development stages when drought conditions were most severe, with numerous 100-degree or higher days in early July when crops were pollinating, Thomison said.
That compares to growers who, because of planting delays, got their crops in later and had better crops.
Flip a coin
"As a result, some growers may be a little gun shy at planting early this year or may be more careful and not plant as early as they typically would because of what happened the last two years," he said.
"It's human nature to reflect on what's transpired in the past couple of years versus the historical perspective because of concerns many may have that we're experiencing more weather extremes."
If you can, plant
But the generic recommendations are that if growers have fields that have good soil conditions, are dry and suitable for planting, with warming temperatures over the next week to 10 days, it behooves them to start planting, Thomison said.
"Mistakes made during crop establishment are usually irreversible and can put a ceiling on a crop's yield potential before the plants have even emerged," he said.
Other recommendations
In addition to planting at the proper time, Thomison said growers can minimize risk by:
♦Performing tillage operations only when necessary and under the right soil conditions. It is important to avoid working with wet soil and to reduce secondary tillage passes, which could cause shallow compaction and reduce crop yields. The best time of year for deeper tillage is during the late summer and into fall on dry soil, and only when a compacted zone has been identified.
♦Adjusting seeding depth according to soil conditions. Corn should be planted between 1.5 to 2 inches deep, which provides protection against frost and allows for adequate root development. Seed depth should be adjusted for weather and soil conditions.
♦Adjusting seeding rates by field. For example, high-yield potential sites with high soil-fertility levels and water-holding capacity can benefit from higher seeding rates, while lower seeding rates work better with droughty soils or in late-planted crops.
♦Planting a mix of early-, mid- and full-season hybrids between fields, which reduces damage from diseases and environmental stress at different growths stages. Using this method also spreads out harvest time and workload.
♦Planting full-season hybrids first, followed alternately with early-season and mid-season hybrids, which allows the late-season hybrids to get the most benefit from maximum heat unit accumulation, Thomison said.
Up-to-date agriculture news in your inbox!


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When head coaches get fired, their assistants are left to their own devices.
But rather than wait for NFL jobs to get filled to try his luck, former Chargers special teams coach Rich Bisaccia just took a job at Auburn.
Bisaccia was named assistant head coach, running backs and special teams coach (and hopefully he got a salary for each title), according to Charles Goldberg of AL.com.
Bisaccia was the Buccaneers special teams coach from 2002-10, carrying an associate head coach title there as well.
He has some college experience, but guys with his kind of resume usually have chances to stay in the NFL if they want.


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Wrap Dazzling Effects Around Your Subject in Photoshop
Photoshop is known all over the world for basic uses such as retouching, color correction, and image editing, but those who make the most of Photoshop's versatility can create almost any effect with it. Creating bright, dazzling effects can turn a fairly mundane photo into an eye-catching design. These designs are found on albums, posters, magazines, and many other places in print or on the web.
One of the biggest challenges when creating glowing, dazzling effects in Photoshop is making them appear realistic. It can be difficult to make them look like they belong within the image, but with a few tricks, you can wrap effects around your subjects and make them really stand out.
The image below can be found here. The image is already interesting, but we can put our own spin on it by adding some neat effects fairly easily. First, we'll need to extract the subject and put them on their own layer.
To do that, select the Quick Selection Tool and click and drag over the person to make a selection. Hold shift and add to the selection until you have selected the entire body. Next, choose "Refine Edge" and select on the "Smart Radius" option. Bump up "Smart Radius" all the way, then check the "Decontaminate Colors" option and bump that value all the way up as well. Set the output to New Layer with Layer Mask and click "OK."
(Note: For more on these selection techniques, check out Making Complex Selections in Photoshop and Mastering Complex Selections in Photoshop.)
You'll notice that if you look closely, parts of the subject's skin are transparent. You can't really see much detail in the image at this point, but the following trick will work for this image. Hit Command/Ctrl + "J" to duplicate the layer several (4-5) times. You can hit Command + "E" to merge the current layer to the one below it, so start at the top of your stack of copies. Photoshop will ask you if you want to preserve the mask or apply it before merging. Select that you want to apply it. If you don't, you'll end up with the same results as when you started.
We want to remove the orange colorcast over the image. We can do that by clicking the "New Fill or Adjustment Layer" icon and choosing "Hue/Saturation." Move the Hue slider to the left or right until the hue changes to a cool blue.
Next, we can place a background behind our subject. Create a new layer below your person layer and fill it with black. Next, fill the background with a texture, which you can find almost anywhere online. I chose a dark, grungy background and changed the opacity of the texture layer to 10-15%.
It is okay if the subject tends to look too dark against the background; we will be adding effects to make our subject stand out. Select the Pen Tool, and begin drawing a wavy line that goes back and forth over our subject, which should look like the example below.
When using the Pen Tool, wherever you want to have a curve, place a point. Then, you can control the contour of the curve to match your subject by using the Direct Selection Tool to pull and refine each curve within your line. Once you are happy, double-click the path in the Paths panel and save your path, naming it something you will recognize later. You will want to do this each time you create a separate color beam, in case you want to go back and add effects that enhance the beam and follow the same path. Next, click the Brush Tool and bring up your brush options.
Select a soft edge brush sized between 5 and 10px. It's important that the brush has soft edges for our glow effects to work. Create a new layer above all of the other layers. Make sure that our path is active in the Paths panel, make sure the Brush Tool is active with our soft edge brush in the Tools panel. Within the Paths panel, click the second icon, called "Stroke Path With Brush."
Adding glow effects is as simple as adding layer styles, since we are working with white on its own layer. Double-click the layer to bring up the "Layer Styles" options. Click on "Inner Glow," set the color to a bright blue, and set the blend mode to "Hard Light." Since out brush was only roughly 5 to 10px in size, we want to make sure that our inner glow is only around 2 to 3px, so that the center of the glowing line is white, which makes for a more realistic look.
Next, choose "Outer Glow" and choose the same blue as before. Choose "Hard Light" as your blend mode, set the spread to 0, but bump the size up to around 10px. This will create a vibrant glow, which is what we are looking for. Click "OK."
Your glow effect should look like this so far:
At this point, we just have a glow effect that looks like it was draw on top of our image. It doesn't look truly integrated, but with a mask, we can fix this problem quickly and easily. The easiest way to create your mask is to find the layer with the person (where we had extracted him from the background earlier) and load the shape of the body as a selection. Command/Ctrl-Click on the Layer Preview icon to load the body shape as a selection. With that loaded, make the glow effect layer active by single clicking on it, and then click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel.
This is opposite of the effect that we want, so click on the Layer Mask Icon for this layer and hit Command/Ctrl+ "I" to invert the mask. The result below is better, but we still have a little work to do.
With the mask still active, select a brush that is slightly larger than the beam itself, and choose white to reveal the glow. Alternate the bands that you paint back in with your brush, which will give your subject the look of having a beam of light spiraling around him. Brush in a beam, skip the next one, brush in the next, etc. You should end up with results similar to the example below.
Repeat the entire process again, but this time use a different color that contrasts well with the blue, such as orange. Weave the effect inside and outside of the body, brushing in areas and masking out others. Try to integrate the other arm and work it into the layout for the orange beam.
This effect is interesting so far, but we can make it even better by creating our own custom brush to add particles to our glow effect. Select the Brush Tool and select the default soft edge brush with 0% hardness. Open the Brush panel to select different settings for a custom brush. Select "Brush Tip Shape," increase the size to around 215px, and increase the spacing to around 120%. You can preview your settings at the bottom of the panel.
Next, go to "Shape Dynamics" and increase "Size Jitter" to 100%. Set "Control" to "Off" for all values. We want to create a randomized, different effect every time we click our mouse, or use our tablet stylus.
Under "Scattering," increase the value to 180%, the "Count" to 3, and the "Count Jitter" to 40%, so that the particle effect scatters and spreads across each stroke in a randomized manner, giving the effect a more natural and less uniform look. When you make an effect look less uniform and appear more natural, it adds to the realism and visual appeal of the effect.
Click on "Color Dynamics" and set both "Hue Jitter" and "Brightness Jitter" to 100%.
Click on "Transfer" and set the "Opacity Jitter" to 80%. This will add depth, because the particles that have a lower opacity will seem to fade further back in the image. The previous settings ("Hue Jitter" and "Brightness Jitter") will make some particles brighter and some darker, further adding variation and depth in your effects.
(Note: For more ways to build your own custom Photoshop brushes, check out Create Your Own Custom Photoshop Brushes in Phothshop.)
Create a new layer above the other layers and with your Brush Tool active, and go to the Paths panel, making one of the previous paths active. Lower your brush size to around 15px, and click "Stroke Path With Brush" to create some nice particle effects. Right-click on a layer with the same color glow effects that you are following, and choose, "Copy Layer Styles." Right-click on your other particle layer and choose "Paste Layer Styles." They will take on the same glow attributes as your light beams. Repeat this process, creating a new layer for each particle effect until you have added particle effects to all of your beams. They'll have identical effects but complementary colors.
Now, we just need to mask the particle effects, in the same manner that we did with the beams. Command/Ctrl + click on the layer mask of each corresponding beam to load the mask as a selection. Then, go to the particle layer mask to create a replica of the layer mask for that beam. This will save you from having to paint out all of the particles, since we've already masked all of the beams.
Our final task will be lightening the background in order to increase contrast between the figure and the background. I had kept it a little darker for the purpose of making our effects easier to see. Go to the background texture layer and raise the opacity to 40%, but lower the fill to 55%. This will lighten the background enough to make the subject show up much more distinctly.
Photoshop isn't purely for photography; creating effects is a big part of why artists and designers use Photoshop. The difference between good effects and great effects can sometimes be as simple as masking areas so that they appear to vanish behind other objects. These techniques gives your effects dimension, and keep them from looking flat and "pasted in." Masks are a great way of achieving these effects without destroying your effect altogether. You can literally paint in effects so that they match the contour of your subject and fit the overall scene much better.


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Is there a badge for that? 🙂
This will only be the second time since 2001, when I revealed how many users in our study had asked what the fried egg on the GNOME menu bar meant, that I haven't made the trip. Other than the very first GUADEC in Paris, which happened just before I joined Sun, the only other one I've missed is Stuttgart in 2005.
So it feels a bit weird not to be going this year, but only a bit. It's been a while since I made a useful contribution to anything GNOMEish (unless you count the daily ritual of deleting spam from the usability list admin queue), GNOME 3 seems to be getting along just fine without any of my suggestions, and for the time being I'm not even working on any desktop projects in my day job. So this time, I suspect, I probably won't be back at GUADEC for a while… unless it makes a return to Dublin of course 🙂
Y'all have fun now!


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A normal person looks at an egg and thinks "omelet" or "frittata." A gardener (especially one who tends to be on the obsessive end of the spectrum) looks at an egg and thinks "yes! Eggshells!"
Five Ways to Use Eggshells in Your Garden
1. Add crushed eggshells to the bottom of planting holes, especially for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. These crops are susceptible to blossom end rot, which is caused by calcium deficiency. While this deficiency is most often caused by improper watering, there's no harm in making sure your plants have a steady source of calcium. As the eggshells break down, they'll nourish the soil, and your plants.
2. Use eggshells as pots for starting plants from seed. Then plant the seedling, "pot" and all, into the garden.
3. Use crushed eggshells to deter slugs, snails, and cutworms. These garden pests are a real pain in the gardener's neck, and cutworms are the worst, killing seedlings by severing the stems at soil level. All three of these pests have soft undersides, and dislike slithering across anything sharp. Crushed eggshells, applied to the soil's surface, may help deter these pests.
4. Add them to the compost pile. If you aren't planting tomatoes or trying to deter slugs, add the eggshells to your compost pile, where they'll add calcium to your finished compost.
5. If you are feeding birds in your yard, crush up the eggshells and add them to a dish near the feeder. Female birds, particularly those who are getting ready to lay eggs or recently finished laying, require extra calcium and will definitely appreciate it!
No matter how you want to use them, be sure to rinse the shells out well before using them in the garden.
[b]Watch Video: Sara Snow: The Top Organic Veggies


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This giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned to find out the winner this weekend!
Welcome to Simple Living Media's Home for the Holidays! We've got 15 giveaways across the entire network this week—all great gift ideas, perfect for the holidays.
Today I'm excited to be giving away a prize that my kids will love receiving this Christmas, and I think yours will as well.
It's this binocular adventure package from Imagine Childhood–full of goodies to help your children both play and learn as they go about their outdoor adventures.
This gift comes ready to stimulate hours of creative, educational exploration.
Learn more about what is included in this prize and how to win.
This package includes the following 12 items:
- a pair of Konus 8×21 compact binoculars
- a green sighting compass
- a countryman's whistle
- one Know Your Knots kit
- an eco-notebook to record outdoor discoveries
- six nature identification cards
- an organic cotton backpack to keep supplies handy
With this kit your child will have all he needs to head outside and begin exploring. My family and I recently moved to a home on two woodsy acres, complete with plenty of new birds to observe in the trees on our property. So I was excited to try out the binoculars in this package.
Made by the company Konus, this pair is compact for little hands and the rubber covering makes it easy to hold while also adding extra durability. It's simple to focus and the magnification brings the trees and their inhabitants up close and personal. (I think we might also take them when we see the Nutcracker in a few weeks!) This is a solid starting pair of binoculars for a beginning observer.
Being a fan of bags, I especially love the backpack that is a part of this prize. It is clearly made to last and extremely sturdy. Crafted from organic cotton, it also features non-toxic dyes, sustainable wood and recycled plastic components, and adjustable shoulder straps. It's also PVC free.
The nature cards included in this set have already been put to good use in our home. They have been helping us identify the flora and fauna in our local area. I've personally learned so much from having these on hand. We also like the poster versions.
The founders of Imagine Childhood believe that "children should experience the world through their own eyes, ears, fingers, and toes. That direct interaction with nature is the best way to learn about the world, and that open-ended imaginative play is the best way to learn about what it could be." The quality toys that fill their store reflect this belief in the beauty of childhood.
I often visit Imagine Childhood when birthday or holiday time rolls around and I need a gift for one of my little people. Check out their online holiday gift guide to gather more ideas for the children in your life.
One Simple Homeschool reader will win a binocular adventure package from Imagine Childhood!
How to win
Everyone has two chances to win. Here's how:
1. Comment on this post, answering this question: What child in your life would most enjoy this prize?
2. For an extra entry, follow both Simple Homeschool and Imagine Childhood on Twitter, and tweet about this giveaway. Make sure you include both our Twitter handles and this post's URL. Your tweet can be something like this:
Win a binocular adventure package from @barnstories on @simpleschool ! http://bit.ly/rAwD4z #Giveaway #Christmas
After you tweet — this is important — you need to come back and leave an additional comment here, telling me you have done so.
This giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned to find out the winner this weekend!
Enter today's other Home for the Holidays giveaways:


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Lessons in English
Click here
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Beliefs in Brief
Compiled by Kesis Solomon Mulugeta
The seven sacraments (mysteries) Baptism, Confirmation, penance, Holy Communion, Unction of the Sick, Matrimony and Holy Orders are important in the teaching of the E.O.C. The administration of these sacraments is somehow similar to that of other Eastern Orthodox Churches in many ways. But with more native elements especially in hymary (chanting) and the custom of rites. Sacraments are holy ordinance through which the believer receives an invisible grace under the form of an outward sign. In the performance of each sacrament the Divine Majesty Himself is present.